Punjab government is going to share its online market complaint app titled “Qeemat Punjab” with other provinces. This app will give a real-time picture of the price escalation and overpricing in Punjab, with other provinces looking to replicate it as well.
The recent meeting of the National Price Monitoring Committee (NPMC) was held under the chairmanship of the special finance secretary to discuss the prices of essential food and non-food items and to take stock of the supply of essential items.
The Committee has directed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to take steps to control smuggling in the country, which is creating distortions in the supply and prices of the commodities.
NPMC’s meeting was informed by the representatives of Ministry of National Food Security and Research that, in compliance with ECC’s decision, a committee had been constituted to implement the recommendations of Competition Commission of Pakistan for limiting cartelization, undue profiteering, and monopolistic practices in order to control the price hikes.
The meeting discussed the trend of the Consumer Price Index, which is the headline measure of inflation. The urban and rural inflation indexes were also reviewed by the NPMC.
The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), which monitors the prices of 51 essential items on a weekly basis, recorded an increase of 1.01 percent on the week ended on 19th September. The committee also discussed the price movements in other provinces and ICT, noting the variations in prices.
ICT’s administration said at the meeting that a new ‘sasta bazaar’ has been established in Chak Shehzad with 170 stalls functioning three days a week. It also said that the administration is establishing seven additional sasta bazaars in other union councils to provide essential items at affordable prices.
A sasta bazaar near Metro Cash and Carry with more than 900 stalls will be fully operationalised shortly. Further, the administration is developing a free home delivery app to provide essential items to the customers at their doorsteps at affordable prices.
On the other hand, the Sindh government has developed a tab for their chief secretary under “Sindh Performance Management System” for price control functions. All district officers are required to update the government about the actions taken to control prices in their areas. KPK government has passed the directions to all deputy commissioners and Food Department field formations to establish sasta bazaars at district and tehsil levels.